Sunday, May 26, 2013

It’s amazing that a desire to see an end to Palestinian
suffering so immediately turns into Jew hating or anti-Semitism. Yet, all
across America, the prevailing attitude is that Israel is so frail that the
least question concerning Zionist conduct will destroy not only the nation of
Israel, but Jews everywhere --- when in reality, the exact opposite is probably
true.Many, including myself, believe
that if Israel
does not listen to international criticism it may well destroy itself.

However, to address the question at hand, The answer is: I do not like some Jews in
spite of some very notable exceptions.The
exceptions are those Jewish leaders who sacrifice their relationship with
their family, community and synagogue to call for an end to the occupation.
Some get squeezed out of their jobs and have their professional life sabotaged because
they defend the moral standards of their faith. I know and respect many Jews.
They are “beautiful people.”

On the other hand, some Jews, in spite of being intelligent,
religious and fair minded in every other area of life seem to go totally blind
when it comes to the atrocities of the State of Israel.When they close their eyes to the illegal and
unjust expansion of Israel into Palestinian lands, when they stand by, knowing
that Israel is destroying homes, abusing children, bombing innocent people by
the thousands, stealing water and uprooting Palestinian livelihood and when
they generally defend Israel’s doing all it can to make life for Palestinians
unbearable, then yes, you could say I do not like them.

I also do not like news reporters who act more like Israel’s defense attorneys than responsible
journalist willing to share with the American audience what is going on in Palestine.They speak endlessly about Israel’s
“security” without ever mentioning the right of Palestinian security.They use the word “terrorism” as if it is an
exclusive product of Arabs in the Middle East without ever hinting that Israel and America might also be guilty of
terrorism.While dominating the news
with Israeli rights, the term “occupation” is seldom mentioned or made visible.
Yes, I do not like those who distort the truth about Netanyahu’s extremism, politicians
of both parties who stand against Palestinian human rights or the Israeli
lobby.

And I dislike even more the Christian Right, those super
Christians who believe Palestinians have no rights because GOD wants it this
way, saying “divine rights trump human rights”.How ridiculous to think the god Jews call Yahweh chose them to be preferred
above all others and gave the land
of Palestine to the Jews
as a sovereign, eternal and indisputable gift. Any questioning of the right of Israel
to murder, displace, steal and torment the Palestinians is declared to be
denying the authority of the Bible, and a
threat to world peace.They say, “God
wants it this way.”This “theology” is not
only declared by the likes of John Hagee and Pat Robertson, but believed by my
neighbors who go to church every week to sing praises to the God of Israel.Besides that, they declare that Jesus cannot
come again except to the throne in Jerusalem and
won’t come again until all that land is militarily controlled by Israel. I want to ask, “How do they know?”They will answer, “The Jewish Bible told me
so.”

Nor do I like ignorant Americans who are proud of their
ignorance.A neighbor, also looking at
my bumper sticker, said to me,“I am not
with you on this issue, big Tom.” I
invited him to lunch. We talked for an hour. I gave him a copy of Steadfast Hope, a short booklet with
video concerning the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict published by the
Presbyterian Church.When we parted, he
handed it back to me saying, “You might as well keep this. I am not going to
read it.”I drove home thinking, how can
he be so certain of his position on such an important issue if he is unwilling
to even hear the rest of the story?I
also thought that he is not alone. Many many Americans are ignorant when it
comes to what is being done in their name and it is not their fault. They
seldom hear anything but Israeli propaganda in the news, from their politicians
or even from their pulpits. How else could they form another opinion, unless
they are willing to read.

I don’t even like myself for not standing up more to “Free Palestine
and End the Occupation” for fear that it might cost me friendships or bring criticism
from my neighbors. I want to be liked, so I, too often, hold my tongue, which
allows others to assume that I agree with them when they make asinine
statements like, “Israel has
a right to defend itself,” or “It’s our duty to support the only democracy in
the Middle East.”

Do I not like Jews?I
hate the betrayal of the moral ethics I have learned from the teachings of Jesus
and the Jewish Prophets. I dislike myself for allowing propaganda to thrive
unchallenged all around me. Yes son,
there is a lot to dislike. And as long as the truth is distorted and people are
treated with cruelty, I invite you to join me in the things I do not like.

Thomas L. Are

I preached for forty three years in the Presbyterian Church before retiring. If anyone would ever refer to me as a Liberation Theologian, I would be pleased. I started blogging several years ago to express my political and religious concern for justice, especially justice for the Palestinians.